OPINION

Who's to blame?

Re: "Bridging divides", (PostBag, Oct 11), "18 Thais now dead in Israel" (BP, Oct 11) & "US president vows 'solid' support for ally", (BP, Oct 9).

I've been to Israel and know how horrible some people and situations are. If you publish David Brown's letter, you should at least give someone who represents the Palestinian point of view a chance. I am sick and tired of your newspaper being a propaganda sheet for America's racist, anti-Palestinian views.

Biden calls the Palestinian attacks "sheer evil" while giving billions of dollars a year to the Zionists to steal land from the Palestinians and allow Jewish settlers to run wild in the Occupied Territories. Still, my heart goes out to the Thais held hostage in Israel. Yet their families should also direct their anger at America and Israel, who provoked and caused this war in the first place. The Palestinians had no other choice other than total surrender and virtual slavery.

Beyond handouts

Re: "MFP sets sight on forming next govt", (BP, Oct 8) & "Srettha defends wallet scheme," (BP, Oct 9).

The Move Forward Party should snatch this chance to show that if elected, its economic policies will give better value for money than PM Srettha's. Now, 100 economic experts, including past Bank of Thailand governors and deputies, have urged Srettha to re-orient from boosting personal consumption via a handout to improving the public sector's capacity for investment and exports.

Should Srettha stay the course? If so, how can the 10,000 baht handout be made more cost-effective, such as focusing only on those under the poverty line?

As the average Thai household now has a staggering 559,408 baht in debt, shouldn't recipients lessen debts instead of boosting consumption -- sharply reducing the multiplier effect that Srettha's relying on? How much would infrastructure be needed to distribute this handout cost, and after this one-off effort is done, what should be done with the infrastructure?

If he should focus on other sectors instead of increasing consumption, what specifically would give better long-term value for money? Let's see specifics, please, not mirages.

Inspired by Taiwan

Re: "Effort to unlock other tourism markets", (Business, Oct 7).

Although I doubt that they would notice, given that Thailand receives many more tourists, I believe this country's Tourism Association could benefit greatly by following Taiwan's "Heart of Asia" tourism promotional campaign.

When one goes to various MRT stations such as Hua Lamphong and even on the trains, one is inundated with various colourful photos of Taiwanese tourism hotspots in mountains, beaches, and other places. The photographs are truly breathtaking and highlight the rich culture of Taiwan.

So impressed was I by the campaign that I was ready to go to Taiwan last week for at least a visit, but my plans were thwarted by the typhoons ravaging the country.

It would certainly be nice if Thailand could do the same and also highlight the country's main physical and cultural attractions in such a compact way. More tourists would certainly come to the kingdom if the Thai Tourist Association sent out brochures highlighting the country's main topographical and cultural attractions, for example.

In this way, people can see that Thailand's main tourist attractions revolve around more than just sex, drugs, and music.